As short-range wireless communications become more prevalent, the number of available Wi-Fi channels increases. When within communication range of these Wi-Fi channels, wireless devices capable of detecting and communicating via these channels, such as smart phones or tablets, select one signal over another. This selection is often left to the wireless device user who can identify a particular Wi-Fi channel by its service set identification (SSID) and choose one of the channels. The wireless device user may base the selection on a detected signal strength that is displayed with the SSID or whether or not access to the Wi-Fi signal is restricted by a password.
When different Wi-Fi channels are provided in a vehicle, a number of different problems exist. For example, the wireless device user who identifies more than one Wi-Fi channel in a vehicle may see that those channels have very similar signal strengths and that the user has access to both Wi-Fi channels. Without some way of differentiating these channels, the wireless device user may not know which Wi-Fi channel to select. Further, vehicles may offer different services through separate Wi-Fi channels and the wireless device user may not know which Wi-Fi channel(s) to select for which service(s). It would be helpful to direct the wireless device to select the most appropriate Wi-Fi channel among more than one generated at a vehicle.